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After the German introduction of the gold standard in 1873, coin production at the mint in Dresden reached its climax in 1876. However, from there production waned and from 1882 to 1884 no coins were minted at the facility. In March 1884, the Parliament of Saxony decided to move the state mint of Saxony to Freiberg and use the site of the previous mint to erect a new Academy of Fine Arts. In May 1884, the goal was to move the mint to Halsbrücke, and thereafter to Muldenhütten.

The last coins produced at the facility in Dresden were 1 pfennig pieces minted on February 5, 1887. Such coins typically bear the word "PFENNIG" at the bottom of the reverse flanked to the left and right by a small point. Gustav Julius Buschick (1815–1897), the Münzmeister at Dresden at the time of its closure, had 25 coins bear a larger point to the right of the word "PFENNIG" as a memorial to the last pfennigs produced at the mint. After the transfer from Dresden to Muldenhütten was complete, Buschick retired from his position, and the office of Münzmeister was discontinued. Max Barduleck (1846–1923), the Chief Engraver at Dresden, continued his work at Muldenhütten after the transfer. The "E" mint mark used by the previous Saxon mint began to be used on pieces struck in Muldenhütten in 1887.

The first coins produced at the mint in Muldenhütten were 20 pfennig pieces from 1887. Of which, the first fifty examples have been marked with an asterisk (*) below the "20" in the center of the reverse. Such a symbol was also used by the Andreas Alnpeck (1489–1563), the last Münzmeister of the Freiberg Mint, which was closed and replaced by the Dresden Mint in 1556. The use of this symbol indicates the transfer of the Saxon state mint back to the Freiberg area after over 300 years.

Max Barduleck served as the Chief Engraver and medalist at the Dresden and later Muldenhütten Mints from 1865 until his retirement in 1911. The last coin he designed was the 1909 5 mark coin of Saxonycommemorating the 500th anniversary of the Leipzig University. By this time, artist Friedrich Wilhelm Hörnlein (1873–1945) had already displayed his artistic merit through medals and plaques he had designed for the Bavarian Mint in Munich, Carl Poellath in Schrobenhausen, and Glaser & Sohn in Dresden. In 1911 he applied for the office of the elderly Barduleck, and on July 1 of that year Hörnlein was appointed. Since 1919, the coinage was mostly designed at Berlin, but some of Hörnlein's designs from Muldenhütten also came to be used.

Near the end of World War II, Hörnlein and his family were found dead after the bombing of Dresden by Allied forces on February 13, 1945. This marked the decline of the Muldenhütten Mint, and a number of years later, in 1953, the facility finally closed its doors. The mint building still remains standing, but has fallen into a state of abandonment and disrepair.

The mint continued its operations after the defeat and subsequent Alliedoccupation of Germany during World War II (1939–1945). The first pieces produced in Muldenhütten during this time period were 1947 10 and 1948 5 Reichspfennig pieces intended for circulation in the Sovietoccupation zone. Muldenhütten produced its final coins from 1949 to 1953, the early years of the German Democratic Republic; these coins consisted solely of low-denomination 1, 5, and 10 pfennig pieces composed of aluminum.

The mint was originally built in 1883. It is located by a river, which likely served as a source to power the mint machinery. This river is recorded to have flooded at some point, which caused some damage to the mint. Metal doors were built into the building, probably for security purposes. The building currently remains standing because its historical importance protects it from being torn down. However, lacking proper funding, the facility has fallen into abandonment and disrepair and has come into the ownership of a local aluminum parts company.